Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Friday night for the Olympics Opening Ceremonies, we hosted a party where we asked everyone to pick a country to represent then bring a dish from that country to share. I picked the Baltic country of Latvia just so I could make these.

There is a pretty big Latvian community in the Twin Cities & if you ever go to one of their events or parties you are bound to see a plate of these Piragi. Whenever I say the name people assume I'm talking about the more commonly known pirogi. Piragi though, are little loaves of sweet white bread that has been enriched with an egg & then stuffed with a combination of onion, bacon & ham. When there is a batch of them available I can't get enough, so its a good thing this recipe makes a lot (though they do freeze well if you aren't as piggy as me).These are irresistible hot fresh out of the oven but I think I like them just as much at room temperature. I think they are taste just the way they are but Matt thought dipping them in a little mustard was a good addition.

In a mixer combine the warm milk, butter, salt & sugar. Mix in the dissolved yeast, egg & 1 1/2 cups of flour & mix well. Add the remaining flour & mix to create a soft dough. Knead either by hand or with a dough hook in the mixer until the dough is smooth. This dough is quite soft. Put into a greased bowl, cover with a clean dish towel & let rise until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

In a skillet over medium-high heat cook the onion & bacon until the onion is translucent & the bacon is starting to crisp. Add the ham & pepper. Mix well. Cool to room temperature before using.

Assembly

1 large egg, beaten well

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Using about 1/4 of the dough at a time roll it out to about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out 2-inch circles. Place a teaspoon or so of the filling in the middle of each circle. Fold the edges in over the filling & pinch to seal. The final shape should be like a little loaf of bread.Place on a baking sheet that is either greased or topped with a silicone pad seam side down. Let rise again about 15 minutes. Brush with the beaten egg. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown (mine took 11 minutes).Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 80

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16 comments:

So fun to see this post! I'm Latvian, and make piragi for special events (well, and not so special events because they are to die for!). Two things I would augment in your recipe that I swear by: I always add a healthy dose of cardamom to the dough when mixing, and I add nutmeg to the bacon, ham, onion and pepper filling. Both kick up the favor of piragi and make it really something special! Sveiks!

i was gonna say that latvia was an obscure nation to choose, but then again, i don't know any latvians. these little nuggets of hand food look terrific--i can tell why you'd pick such a random country just to make 'em!

What a great idea for an Olympics party -- bet there was plenty of wonderful food there! The rolls look delicious... and I'll bet they'd make superb leftovers. Provided there are any leftovers, of course! :)

When I was young, our nearest neighbor was a lady who had emigrated from Latvia with her husband and children after WW II. She made these for my family once and even though it was almost 30 years ago, I still remember how good they tasted! I am so looking forward to making them myself!!!

My daughter is marrying an Australian Latvian and piragi's are on the wedding menu. Does anyone know where these can be purchased frozen, or ordered online or do we have to make them? mmmm they are so good!